white christmas
by itchweeeds
Summary: It's been awhile since Chicago had last welcomed a white Christmas, and who knows what may come when those flurries begin falling and claiming the bare winter land as their own.


Jeff sighed contently, fascinated by the way the window fogged up at the touch of his breath. It'd been quite awhile – too long, in his opinion – since Chicago had welcomed a white Christmas. Yet flurries of snow danced around in the wind, grazing and kissing the bare arms of the trees and shrubbery surrounding the house he was so happy to call his home, slowly but surely beginning to mark the land as its own.

He involuntarily shivered as a powerful gust of wind blew, tearing off any remaining dead leaves that were still clinging to the last few branches of the tree directly in front of the window he was standing at. His sudden chill, however, didn't last that long, for before he knew it, a blanket was draped over his shoulders and tucked into his hands and arms were wrapped around his waist. Jeff grinned at the familiar feel of scruff that softly scratched his skin as Phil began kissing his neck.

"You didn't need to bring me the blanket," he said quietly, entranced by the snowflakes that had begun falling faster and faster, swirling around each other in patterns that quickly grew difficult to follow.

Phil looked up and smirked. "Mhm. That's why you were shivering just a few seconds ago."

"Whatever," Jeff said, turning himself and wrapping the remainder of the blanket around Phil, effectively bringing them closer. "Thanks, though. I'm not cold anymore."

Phil smiled. "That's all I wanted," he said, and leaned forward, attaching his lips with Jeff's. And as they moved against each other, Phil strengthening his grip on Jeff's waist and Jeff wrapping his arms around the other's neck, the blanket clutched between his fingers, Jeff felt like everything was right. He felt alive; he could feel his body set ablaze by Phil's soft caresses and he wouldn't have it any other way, for while in Phil's embrace, he felt at home.

And as they departed – though they hated doing so – Phil leaned his forehead against the other man's, preparing himself for what was to come. "I know you said you didn't want anything for Christmas, but over the past few weeks, I think I found something that you'd really enjoy. And since you're always making me these incredible ass paintings and writing these amazing ass songs, I felt like I could return the favor." He couldn't help but smile at the sight of Jeff's furrowed brows.

"I don't need anything," Jeff said. He grinned. "I have you, and that's all I want."

"Think you'll like this, then," he murmured under his breath, pulling away from his lover and walking to the kitchen. He grabbed the huge box topped off with a large red ribbon that had been laying on the counter and walked back to a still-confused Jeff. Jeff's eyes widened at the sight of the present, his expression growing even more puzzled.

"What the _fuck_ is this?" he asked as Phil handed it to him. He expected the present to be heavy, considering the size of the box, but was automatically surprised but its lightness. He eyed Phil suspiciously, who only smiled at him. "Why the hell is it this light when the box is fucking huge?"

He shrugged. "Go on," he said. "Sit down and open it! I'm hoping it's not that bad. I'm kinda going out on a limb with it."

Jeff shook his head, smiling softly as he carefully untied the ribbon and opened the box, only to be met with the sight of another box inside of it with the same type of red ribbon tied around it, just slightly smaller in size. He looked back up with Phil, who was biting his lip to keep from laughing.

"Don't tell me this is gonna be like those Russian dolls with more of them inside of each other," Jeff said, untying the ribbon around the second box and lifting the lid. In the box was yet another box. Jeff glared at Phil as he repeated his process another time, finding another one.

"Keep opening," Phil urged as Jeff sighed at the sight of another box, identical to all the others, just smaller in size, as the pattern had been before.

"Let me guess. You probably put a used pencil or some dumb shit in here," he replied sarcastically as he finally reached the last box. He was sure that there couldn't possibly be another box within this one – it was way too small, though he could appreciate the precise tying of the ribbon despite the size. He glanced up at Phil, who was still nodding him on, and delicately removed the ribbon and slowly lifted the lid to the box. Inside of it was a small velvet case. He took it out of the box, holding it in the palm of his hand, not believing what he was seeing.

"Phil-" he said, but his voice was cut off when Phil gently took his hands in his own and opened the velvet case for him, revealing just what he expected was there.

A ring.

"Jeff, I think I realized a few weeks back that I couldn't imagine a life without you in it. You mean the world to me and I love how you can dance through everything, no matter the situation, and shake and change it all up. You're special, so goddamn special, and I can go on and on but I really wanna hold you right now and I'm not good at this type of stuff." At this, Phil paused, grinning at Jeff's soft chuckle and slight nod of agreement. "But that's besides the point. I love you so fucking much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Jeffrey Nero Hardy, will you marry me?"

Jeff nodded fervently, beginning to beam despite the tears that had begun rolling down his cheeks at the mere sight of the ring. "Yes. Yes, oh my God, yes. Definitely." And after Phil had slipped the ring onto his finger, he couldn't resist; Jeff had that type of smile that was impossible to not want to kiss.

And so as the snow began to fall harder and faster and somewhere in the house, a news reporter from the TV was frantically explaining that the citizens of Chicago were going to be snowed in this Christmas, neither one of them minded. They had each other – the rest of the world could wait.


End file.
